Business Reflection #7: South Korea trade deal to benefit Canadian agricultural producers

Business Reflection #7: South Korea trade deal to benefit Canadian agricultural producers
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/south-korea-trade-deal-to-benefit-canadian-agricultural-producers-1.2568476
Date: March.12th,2014

     Prime Minister, Steven Harper announced today that Canadian consumers can expect lower prices on South Korean vehicles, appliances, and electronics because of the new Canada- South Korea free trade agreement. The Canada-South Korea free trade agreement, which is expected to remove nearly all tariffs between the two countries, has been well received by various sectors of the Canadian economy — with the exception of the automotive industry, which has raised concerns about the potential for tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs lost.
    In the deal, this is what as Canadians we should expect to pay less for:

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• Vehicles: Canada will drop its 6.1 per cent tariff on imports of South Korean vehicles over a three-year period, with the first cut coming once the agreement is in force. Two years after the agreement is in effect, tariffs will be completely eliminated, which means Canadians can expect prices to come down on South Korean-made makes such as Kia and Hyundai.
• Appliances: Canada will eliminate tariffs that currently run up to eight per cent on major appliances within three to five years. That means Canadians can expect to pay less for refrigerators, stoves, washes and dryers made by LG and other South Korean brands.
• Electronics: Duties run up to 14 per cent on consumer electronics imported from South Korea. Under the new free trade agreement, Canada will drop its tariffs over three to five years, and Canadians can expect to see prices come down on degital cameras, video camcorders and TVs made by Samsung and others in South Korea.
• Apparel and footwear: Canadians can expect to pay less for clothes and shoes made in South Korea once duties that currently run up to 20 per cent are removed over a period of three to 11 years.

       

       While Canadians will be saving money with this agreement the South Korean consumers will be seeing a bigger savings on products such as:

• Vehicles: As soon as the agreement comes into force, South Korea will drop all existing tariffs on imports of Canadian vehicles. Current duties run up to 8%.
• Fish and seafood
• Leather clothing
• Beef, pork , canola, and grains
• Frozen french fries 
• Maple sugar
• Rye Whisky
• Ice wine
• Chickpeas and lentils

        Consumers will not be seeing the savings for some time to come, as there will have to be legal review in final trade agreement followed by translation into Korean, English, and French before it is tabled to the parliament and is excepted by both governments. As consumers, we don't know when this agreement will take place as the government is saying "as soon as possible".

   So what do you think... is it worth it to get all these everyday products discounted in the future or to forget about the agreement and keep the thousands of employees employed?